GRAPHIC PICS of my day learning to caponize

[Poco Pollo]

Greetings:

I'm contacting my guy in China on Wednesday. If you're interested in getting a set of tools, please send me a P.M. before Wednesday. Thanks : )

 

[Poco Pollo]

Please contact me via PM if you're part of the Wednesday tool order. I want to be sure everyone who wants tools gets them. After this order, I may not be able to order again until next year.

Someone asked me recently how big capons get. It depends on the capon. Al Capon is standing in front of a golf cart. He's heavy and ready for the pot, but I haven't the heart to send him to freezer camp. He's become docile like a puppy, and the grandkids love to hand-feed him.

 

[season1223]

Well, i just want to say thank u for the info! I have several roosters and had no idea this was even an option as i am still new to the chicken thing! I have had other health issues arise with my hens and have searched far and wide for a vet that will treat chickens and there aren't any that i can find so i have become their vet! I don't have a medical license but ive managed to keep them all alive thus far! I have a CX that i will have to eventually process which is why im in this section but for now she is laying eggs and doing well so i will continue to love her until i notice her having problems!

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

Al Capon is standing in front of a golf cart. He's heavy and ready for the pot, but I haven't the heart to send him to freezer camp. He's become docile like a puppy, and the grandkids love to hand-feed him.

I am having the SAME issue with one of my guys! He is just so darn sweet and pretty, but he is ready for sure......not sure what his fate with be as of yet!

I got some project Brahma males from a BYCer and there is one in particular (he's a Splash Brahma!) that may also become a pet LOL.
This little skill was supposed to feed, us not extend their lives indefinitely

 

[season1223]

Here's a pic of my Chick Pea (CX)! She's got the double D's goin on in the chest! Lol! Set her on the scale a few days ago and she weighed 11.6 lbs! Shes laid some huge eggs tho! Check these out!

 

[dfr1973]

I am having the SAME issue with one of my guys! He is just so darn sweet and pretty, but he is ready for sure......not sure what his fate with be as of yet!

I got some project Brahma males from a BYCer and there is one in particular (he's a Splash Brahma!) that may also become a pet LOL.
This little skill was supposed to feed, us not extend their lives indefinitely

I have one (for certain a full capon this time) who will have a nice long life as a chick nanny.

 

[season1223]

I know u said u could order the kits so i thought maybe u could help me find a place to buy a surgical needle!? I remember reading where u sai regular sewing needles aren't sharp enuf! I was just thinking a surgical needle would be a handy thing to have!

 

[gregg3]

I don't recall how many weeks it's been since I tried my first batch of capons, followed shortly thereafter by Maggiesdad showing me the ropes, but I have several confirmed capons roaming the yard now! As some have mentioned, mine are rather flighty and hard to photograph but I got pictures of this boy on the porch this afternoon enjoying the rain!



I also harvested my first ever home grown cockerel last weekend. All I can say is WOW! My wife is hesitant to eat anything she has seen mostly intact (including a frozen turkey - it must be carved) but I convinced her to try our home grown chicken and her attitude has shifted from "When are you going to get rid of them" (she thinks I have too many) to "You should let them grow out another few weeks...that one was a bit skinny!".

If I haven't said it before, thanks to everyone for sharing your knowledge here. I've learned so much reading through these forums and I'm well on my way to hatching year round to put food on the table!

 

[QueenMisha]

Hi everybody! Lol I dropped completely off the map after my last post, forgot completely to update on how my caponizing went!

It was super successful, which makes me glad to know that that second batch I did had such a poor success rate because they were bantams, not because I'm just plain terrible at it! I've only got one remaining from that second batch - the other "success" came down with some kind of infection a couple months post-surgery, it was all through his lungs and liver at autopsy - NO clue what that was about - but the one who was most successful is a very happy, healthy Cornish Bantam capon. I was originally gonna eat him - I was gonna call it a "heritage cornish game hen" - but... well, he's very cute and very sweet. And very big. So he gets to stay around, eat up my feed, and do absolutely nothing of value. He's lucky I work at a feed dealer and get a bargain deal on my feed!

As for my third batch, I'm very happy with the results! I originally set out to do 9 cockerels. That came down to 7, as my mom decided to "rescue" one of the cockerels from their temporary pre-surgery cages (AKA move him back into the pen and feed him... *sigh*) and I decided to go ahead and leave my BlueCM boy intact, as I would like to get some proper Ameraucanas and produce some OEs next year, if possible. What I ended up with was 2 Red Sex Link (SussexXRock) cockerels, 2 Dark Cornish cockerels, 1 Buff Cochin cockerel, 1 SussexXGLW cockerel, and a questionably-too-old BrahmaXCochin cockerel.

The RSL, Cochin, and SussexXGLW all went great - pretty sure I got 100% of the testes out! Most came out in 1 piece, some of them I got 1 out whole and others in 2 pieces. The Dark Cornish, however, were very... *disagreeable*. I've never had a bird struggle and scream that much! And they have so much power behind that leg muscle, they nearly got loose a couple of times. If I order a big run of them like I possibly may next summer, I'm going to need to invest in some better tie-downs. One of them, once I got him calmed down, was a pretty good success - looked like all of the testes came out. The second one struggled so much, they came out in about 8 different pieces. I think I got all of it, but there's no way of knowing for sure unless he starts looking like a slip! As for the CochinXBrahma cockerel.. I did the first cut and went for the rib spreaders, and the bones wouldn't budge. Waaaaaay too old. I think the friend I got him from kinda underestimated his age! I just said "nope" and backed off. He'll be grown out as a proper rooster, maybe I'll use him for some Coq au Vin stew.

As for my first batch, all 3 are growing well, and one in particular is getting very big. Like, 9 or 10 pounds at 8 months big. He's the same size as one of my English Orp crosses! He's not even a heavy breed! He's 1/4 Ameraucana, 1/4 Jersey Giant, and 1/2 EE! Although he has been displaying some weird behavior lately... I think he may be a slip? He's been holding his tail higher and has started dropping his wing for nearby hens and any roosters that get too close, and his voice is DEEP. He doesn't full on dance or cackle, and I've never seen him crow or mount, but he does drop his wing a lot! Is he possibly 99% capon but I missed just enough to make him a minor slip? Or is this just more of a remnant-behavior/brain-structure thing? I'm not too terribly concerned, since he doesn't seemed interested in mating. This is the one I'm planning on keeping as a run ornament... he's soooo pretty, and that beard is getting bigger everyday! It's very soft.

My other two aren't growing so big... maybe 7-8 pounds... but they are growing well regardless. The white/black one is getting very stocky, despite being pretty short. Just like his daddy, lol!

I don't have any recent pictures now, but I'll try to get some before I go on vacation this weekend! Those RSL capons from batch #3 are already getting huge... and I've got another 7 of their little brothers lined up for next month or so! Can't wait to have a yard full of capons... even if they're destined for the freezer, they sure are fun to look at in the meantime! Without, of course, all the hassle of bald, stressed hens.

Other notes: I didn't use ice. It took so long last time that the anticipation of having an actual timer on kept getting me even more nervous than I should have been... I think a bit more pain is a fair exchange for having less shaky hands! Less chance of hitting that fabled artery, ugh. I also didn't use any of the numbing mint gel because I couldn't find it! Somebody moved my med kit... AGAIN... honestly people. I DID put some classical music on my laptop this round as well. It calms both me and the birds! I also went in from BOTH sides for all of the capons. I tried to do it from one side on the first one... but I had to get through that membrane to get to the other teste through the same opening, and the last time I stuck the pointy end inside the bird, I hit "the" artery and lost the bird in 30 seconds. I didn't want to lose any nice birds, so I just went in through both sides. More healing but safer work by far. My favorite part of this batch: Only 1 windpuff out of 6 birds! The one that did puff swelled like crazy... he looked like a ballon... but one pop and it hasn't returned! None of the others puffed at all.

And now my boss wants me to capon some birds for him, lol... he's got a couple Naked Necks he wants to grow out for meat! I'm excited to see how that goes, NN capons should get BIG... now I just need to set up a date to get over there and do it...

 

[season1223]

Hi everybody! Lol I dropped completely off the map after my last post, forgot completely to update on how my caponizing went!

It was super successful, which makes me glad to know that that second batch I did had such a poor success rate because they were bantams, not because I'm just plain terrible at it! I've only got one remaining from that second batch - the other "success" came down with some kind of infection a couple months post-surgery, it was all through his lungs and liver at autopsy - NO clue what that was about - but the one who was most successful is a very happy, healthy Cornish Bantam capon. I was originally gonna eat him - I was gonna call it a "heritage cornish game hen" - but... well, he's very cute and very sweet. And very big. So he gets to stay around, eat up my feed, and do absolutely nothing of value. He's lucky I work at a feed dealer and get a bargain deal on my feed!

As for my third batch, I'm very happy with the results! I originally set out to do 9 cockerels. That came down to 7, as my mom decided to "rescue" one of the cockerels from their temporary pre-surgery cages (AKA move him back into the pen and feed him... *sigh*) and I decided to go ahead and leave my BlueCM boy intact, as I would like to get some proper Ameraucanas and produce some OEs next year, if possible. What I ended up with was 2 Red Sex Link (SussexXRock) cockerels, 2 Dark Cornish cockerels, 1 Buff Cochin cockerel, 1 SussexXGLW cockerel, and a questionably-too-old BrahmaXCochin cockerel.

The RSL, Cochin, and SussexXGLW all went great - pretty sure I got 100% of the testes out! Most came out in 1 piece, some of them I got 1 out whole and others in 2 pieces. The Dark Cornish, however, were very... *disagreeable*. I've never had a bird struggle and scream that much! And they have so much power behind that leg muscle, they nearly got loose a couple of times. If I order a big run of them like I possibly may next summer, I'm going to need to invest in some better tie-downs. One of them, once I got him calmed down, was a pretty good success - looked like all of the testes came out. The second one struggled so much, they came out in about 8 different pieces. I think I got all of it, but there's no way of knowing for sure unless he starts looking like a slip! As for the CochinXBrahma cockerel.. I did the first cut and went for the rib spreaders, and the bones wouldn't budge. Waaaaaay too old. I think the friend I got him from kinda underestimated his age! I just said "nope" and backed off. He'll be grown out as a proper rooster, maybe I'll use him for some Coq au Vin stew.

As for my first batch, all 3 are growing well, and one in particular is getting very big. Like, 9 or 10 pounds at 8 months big. He's the same size as one of my English Orp crosses! He's not even a heavy breed! He's 1/4 Ameraucana,  1/4 Jersey Giant, and 1/2 EE! Although he has been displaying some weird behavior lately... I think he may be a slip? He's been holding his tail higher and has started dropping his wing for nearby hens and any roosters that get too close, and his voice is DEEP. He doesn't full on dance or cackle, and I've never seen him crow or mount, but he does drop his wing a lot! Is he possibly 99% capon but I missed just enough to make him a minor slip? Or is this just more of a remnant-behavior/brain-structure thing? I'm not too terribly concerned, since he doesn't seemed interested in mating. This is the one I'm planning on keeping as a run ornament... he's soooo pretty, and that beard is getting bigger everyday! It's very soft.

My other two aren't growing so big... maybe 7-8 pounds... but they are growing well regardless. The white/black one is getting very stocky, despite being pretty short. Just like his daddy, lol!

I don't have any recent pictures now, but I'll try to get some before I go on vacation this weekend! Those RSL capons from batch #3 are already getting huge... and I've got another 7 of their little brothers lined up for next month or so! Can't wait to have a yard full of capons... even if they're destined for the freezer, they sure are fun to look at in the meantime! Without, of course, all the hassle of bald, stressed hens.

Other notes: I didn't use ice. It took so long last time that the anticipation of having an actual timer on kept getting me even more nervous than I should have been... I think a bit more pain is a fair exchange for having less shaky hands! Less chance of hitting that fabled artery, ugh. I also didn't use any of the numbing mint gel because I couldn't find it! Somebody moved my med kit... AGAIN... honestly people. I DID put some classical music on my laptop this round as well. It calms both me and the birds! I also went in from BOTH sides for all of the capons. I tried to do it from one side on the first one... but I had to get through that membrane to get to the other teste through the same opening, and the last time I stuck the pointy end inside the bird, I hit "the" artery and lost the bird in 30 seconds. I didn't want to lose any nice birds, so I just went in through both sides. More healing but safer work by far. My favorite part of this batch: Only 1 windpuff out of 6 birds! The one that did puff swelled like crazy... he looked like a ballon... but one pop and it hasn't returned! None of the others puffed at all.

And now my boss wants me to capon some birds for him, lol... he's got a couple Naked Necks he wants to grow out for meat! I'm excited to see how that goes, NN capons should get BIG... now I just need to set up a date to get over there and do it...

Awesome! Sounds like ur becoming a pro! Practice makes perfect! Congrats!